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Bridging the Path of Site Selection to Construction

Stories

July 9, 2026

Environmental, Stories

The checklist to prepare your site for construction begins by evaluating several factors, from a site’s previous use, to its potential place in the history of the community and its proposed purpose. Crossing off each of these items could take your journey in a different direction. The good news: there’s no need to search for additional resources. Terracon’s specialized expertise in identifying and mitigating hazards to construction, combined with urgency and our commitment to meeting project timelines, helps our clients stay compliant and on schedule.

These challenges are opportunities to protect the health of occupants and lifespan of facilities, preserve the history that shapes our communities, verify that project sites are protected from historical contaminant impacts, while complying with environmental standards and regulations. We’re ready to guide you through every step of your projects lifecycle.

Archaeology and Historical Resources

Understand your site’s story before you write the next chapter

Historical and cultural resources can take many forms, including buildings, bridges, landmarks, and cemeteries. When a project may affect one of these resources, it demands more than just knowledge of National Historic Preservation Act requirements. Federal compliance standards are uniform, but state and local requirements can vary greatly.

That’s where local experience matters. Our national network of archaeologists, architectural historians, and other specialists understands the regulatory landscape in their regions and helps clients identify the most efficient path to compliance, delivering a consistent experience wherever you’re working. Whether a project is linear, like transportation, fiber optic, transmission, or pipelines, or is more localized like single-site projects, the goal is always the same.

Jon Lohse, Ph.D.
National Manager, Cultural Resources Services

Historic and cultural resources provide a mirror through which we see ourselves as a community. The way our practitioners  engage is a reflection of that, and we want to be as responsible, knowledgeable, and accountable as we can be while delivering efficient, cost-conscious projects for our clients.

Site Investigation and Remediation

Investigate. Mitigate. Accelerate.

Understanding existing or potential hazards beneath your project site before construction starts is critical to protecting the health of people on site, as well as timeline and budget. Proactively identifying challenges from previous contaminant releases, historical underground storage tanks (USTs), or potential vapor intrusion at the outset is the most direct path to meeting project goals. With that insight, teams can adjust designs, reduce impacts of these factors, or plan mitigation measures upfront, helping avoid unexpected costs or delays. Eliminating surprises and protecting both people and environment go hand-in-hand.

Mark White, P.G.
Assistant Environmental Service Line Director

We want to prevent additional costs and negative impacts to development. If our clients don’t know and understand what’s there before they begin construction, it creates huge issues that have to be reactively addressed during construction, which often leads to schedule slippage and cost overruns. We prefer to evaluate the site, identify potential and existing contaminant impacts to design and construction, assess the extents of contamination, and develop plans to mitigate these impacts before, or during construction, in an effort to maintain the client’s schedule and project development objectives.

Building Environmental Services (BES)

Some buildings stand, others stand the test of time

Preparing a site or facility for redevelopment, renovation, acquisition, or demolition requires a clear understanding of the building-related environmental risks that can affect project schedules, costs, and regulatory obligations. Terracon’s BES professionals help clients identify, assess, and manage hazardous and regulated building materials, indoor environmental concerns, and other conditions that may impact project planning and execution. Our services include asbestos and lead-based paint consulting, hazardous materials assessments, mold and moisture investigations, indoor environmental quality evaluations, radon consulting, and other building-related environmental risk management services.

With one of the nation’s largest networks of AHERA-accredited professionals, Terracon supports clients from due diligence and pre-development assessments through mitigation planning, abatement oversight, and project closeout. By identifying potential environmental challenges early, we help owners, developers, architects, and contractors make informed decisions, reduce uncertainty, maintain compliance, and keep projects moving forward.

Amanda McKenney, CIH
National Manager, Building Environmental Sciences

Our integrated BES services help clients identify and address building-related environmental risks early in the project lifecycle, enabling informed decisions, regulatory compliance, and a more predictable path from planning through construction and occupancy.